To Solemnly Swear: Year Three
by Jaisler
Summary: The Marauder's Third Year. Watch as they take on new challenges, make new enemies, and of course play plenty of pranks. As the storm grows ever closer, these four friends will have to cope with growing up and a brewing war. Third in a series, please read and review.
1. Saddened Summer

1. Saddened Summer

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

James woke up sweating; another nightmare. You'd think, being a thirteen year old boy, these wouldn't be as frequent as those of a child, but James Potter was no ordinary boy. His messy hair, hazel eyes behind squarish spectacles may not lend this idea, but he was a wizard.

And yet, even for wizard kind he was special. Even if one was to completely ignore his above average intellect, natural Quidditch prowess, and exceptional magical ability, his recent kidnapping and escape from Cyrus Tenebrae had made him famous, or at least well known, in the Wizarding community.

James got out of his bed and went to the bathroom, turning on the sink faucet and washing his face. He was tired of waking up randomly from these nightmares, tired of being tired. Since the summer began he had gotten no more than a handful of full night's rest. He yawned and decided to go down to the kitchen and get something to eat.

When he got into the kitchen he saw the sky had a pinkish tint to it through the windows.

"Good morning Master James," Misty greeted him.

"Morning Misty," James responded, rubbing his eyes and not even bothering to tell his house-elf not to call him 'Master'.

Misty lifted her hands over her head and a frying pan spilled some bacon and eggs onto a plate. The plate floated over to James as did a glass of orange juice that poured itself.

"Thanks Misty," James said with a mouthful of eggs and bacon. The house-elf bowed in response.

James looked out the window while he ate. The sun slowly rose over the horizon, lighting up the sky in reds, pinks, purples, and hints of gold. James smiled at the Gryffindor colors, a smile that grew when a shadow appeared in the sky. James squinted as the owl flew in closer to his house, heading straight for the window he was watching it through. As the owl approached James recognized it as his own, Aquila. James didn't use her often, owls going home more often than not being from the school rather than him, not that his parents minded. James had actually gotten more than a few letters from his father that congratulated him on his ingenuity when it came to pranks, though his father knew nothing of those that the mysterious Hogwarts 'Marauders' had pulled.

James stood up, leaving the scraps of food on his plate and opened the window for his owl, letting in the cool morning air. The owl flew through the window and landed directly next to James's plate, sticking out her head and leaning down to eat his scraps simultaneously. James untied the letter so his owl could focus on eating and tore the letter open.

_James,_

_ I'm fine thank you for asking, the full moon wasn't too bad, just a couple of scratches. I'm still good to come over if you'll still have me. It's a shame Peter's still in Egypt but I guess we'll see him when we go to Diagon Alley. I would ask you how your summer's been but I'll be seeing you tomorrow so I guess I can ask you in person. I know you asked me not to bring any books but I have already packed several and plan to get a few more from your library. I guess that's all for now, see you tomorrow!_

_ Remus_

James put the letter down with a smile. Remus was so stupid. "If you'll still have me," James muttered under his breath with a short laugh. As if after two years James was just going to cut him out. James pulled the now empty plate away from his owl and put it in the sink. Then he grabbed the letter and decided to go into the back yard.

They had a lot of land, clean cut grass stretching for quite a while until it met the edge of a small forest. A rather large garden with an assortment of different colored flowers and some vegetables bordering the house, the James noticed that some of the plants were dying.

He felt a pang of sadness. Just looking around his house reminded him of his mother. Elizabeth Potter almost died and that scared James, his Mum was almost taken from him. For his whole life his parents had always been older and they had always had dangerous jobs, but only after the events of the end of last school year had James felt close to loosing one of them.

She was fine now. Well, fine being used loosely. James was still freaked out when he saw his mother's now entirely grey hair and a number of new wrinkles. Not to mention the half dozen potions at her bedside table, all steaming and filling the room with a mix of their different scents. She used a cane now, not all of the time as she hated using it, but the Healers insisted, as did James and his father. She fell once, in one of the first days after she came back from St. Mungos, after refusing to use the cane. She had come home on her bloody wedding anniversary, and was all upset that she hadn't been able to get James' father anything.

James was shaken from these thoughts by a voice. "Hey!" He didn't even bother looking around to see who it was, rather he reached into his pocket and pulled out the square mirror he now always carried with him.

"Morning Sirius," James spoke into the mirror.

"Morning Jamie," Sirius responded. "How'd you sleep?"

"Same as the rest of the summer," James told him.

"Sorry,"

" S'alright, not your fault,"

"Yeah I know,"

They were quiet for a moment.

"One more day," James told him.

Sirius smiled. "One more bloody day!" He practically cheered.

"Your gonna wake them if you keep yelling," James warned him.

"They can go-" He started.

"Language," James cut him off, tutting. "Haven't your numerous detentions taught you anything?"

"Have yours?" Sirius countered.

"Touché,"

There was the sound of a door opening and James's mirror screen went dark.

"What do you want Regulus?" Sirius asked exasperatedly.

"For you to shut up, some of us are trying to sleep," The door slammed after that.

Sirius reappeared in the mirror. "Sorry about that,"

"No problem, you should probably Silence your room."

"Good idea." Sirius grabbed his wand, pointed it at his door and muttered the spell. "The one perk of living with a pureblooded family."

"Magic during the holidays," James said wistfully. "I feel bad for those of us who have to wait until September."

"Poor blokes,"

They laughed.

"I'll talk to you later; I'm gonna go find something to eat. I'm starved."

"Why am I not surprised?" James asked with a laugh.

Sirius made a rather rude gesture with his hand before the reflection in the mirror returned to James's own.

James put the mirror into his pocket and put his hands in them as well. His bare feet were tickled by the pointy grass blades and his legs felt the light breeze (the part that wasn't covered by his shorts that is). James smiled and started humming to himself, kicking a Quaffle he had left on the ground from when he had been practicing the other day. The ground was soft as it had rained the day before, and the whole backward was glistening, making all of the greens look greener, the browns look browner, the flowers look more colorful, in the way only left over rain could manage. The air even smelled more outside-y.

Even though James had only been outside for a short while, it was already becoming hotter. It wasn't quite humid, but James knew that in a matter of hours the heat would become oppressive, forcing everyone indoors. James started wondering how animals stayed cool; it's not as if they could place cooling charms in their homes. Even Muggles had that colder machine that James always forgot the name of. Something like wind blower. He spent several minutes internally debating the issue, simply because he had nothing better to think about. Or rather, he didn't want to think about any of the other things he could be thinking about at that moment in time.

Eventually thinking of nothing in particular, James continued his walk around his backyard, still kicking the muddy Quaffle, and making his way closer to the line of trees. James brought his foot back and kicked the ball in between two of the trees.  
"Goal," James said to himself quietly. "And the crowd goes wild! Ahhh!"

James smiled to himself. Muggle football wasn't all bad. Not as good as Quidditch, of course but-

Something moved in the shadows of the trees. James reached into his pocket for his wand but didn't have it. He was suddenly afraid, unreasonably so. It was probably nothing and yet-

"AHHH!" James yelled, putting his hands over his head. Nothing happened. He slowly put his arms back at his sides and looked at the confused looking doe in front of him.

"Oh, it's just a doe," he told himself. Then he felt ashamed of himself, so much for being a Gryffindor. Paralyzing nightmares and fear of peaceful woodland creatures, the perfect combination for the house of brave and daring. He decided to go inside.

When he reentered the house, James figured he ought to take a shower and get dressed for the day. He didn't have any plans but he felt weird staying in his pajamas. He went back to his room and then went to the bathroom.

After a quick shower he put on some jeans and a t-shirt but left his feet bare, enjoying the sensation of the cool wooden floor underneath him. As he walked past his parents' room, he saw something that made him want to cry.

His mother, the brilliant and powerful witch, was struggling to walk across the room with her cane. She was trying to get at something that James couldn't see, but she hadn't even thought (or maybe she had tried and not been able to muster the strength) to use her wand to Summon it. He wanted to go in and help her but he knew she wouldn't like that. She hated feeling useless and that's all she had felt like since the Incident. James shook himself and felt guilty for wishing that September first would come sooner.

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long. I've been really busy lately, but here it is, the first chapter of Year Three. I hope you liked it and please review with your thoughts, every time I get a review I make myself sit down and write, even if I don't know what to have happen next so, more reviews make for more frequent chapters (I'm not trying to blackmail you guys, it's a fact). See you guys soon.**


	2. Muggle London

2. Muggle London

Remus arrived early the next morning, which was fine for James as he had woken up at the crack of dawn yet again.

"Moony!" James yelled at a level far exceeding what should be used that early in the morning,

"Shh!" Remus scolded him.

James waved his hand dismissively. "Lighten up mate, its not _that_ early,"

Remus's face was an equal mix of amusement and irritation. He carried his bag over the threshold and placed them down. Misty appeared in front of him.

"Shall I take your bags upstairs Master Remus," the house elf asked politely.

"Er, sure," Remus replied. The elf nodded, grabbed the bags and Disapperated.

Remus and James walked towards the kitchen. Remus sat down at a bar stool and placed his arms on the counter and James walked to the other side, towards the pantry.

"D'ya want anything?" James asked his friend.

Remus shook his head, "I'm good,"

"Are you sure? Once Sirius gets here all the food with disappear."

Remus mulled it over.

"Last chance," James told him in a sing-songy voice.

Remus laughed. "Got anything with chocolate?"

"One Chocolate Cauldron coming right up,"

James disappeared into the pantry and grabbed a handful of Chocolate Cauldrons. "Only one?" Remus called to him.

"Fine, you can have two," James conceded jokingly. He took the half dozen in his hands and threw them all at once towards his friend.

Remus's arms covered his face as chocolate frogs rained down on him. When the blitz passed he started picking them up from where they were scattered on the floor.

"That wasn't very effective,"

James shrugged. "It was easier for me. I wouldn't want to have to walk _all_ the way over to you,"

Remus rolled his eyes. "You're just lucky they're individually wrapped."

James laughed and opened one for himself.

There was the creak coming from the staircase and James and Remus looked to the wooden structure to see James's father, Harold Potter, walking down in a bathrobe with a yawn.

He walked over to the kitchen and was surprised to see James and Remus already sitting at the counter.

"'Morning boys," he greeted them before making his way to a chair that Misty was already placing coffee next to.

James took a minute to look his father over. His hair was thinning and far more grey than James had ever seen it. He had bags under his red eyes and seemed older in every aspect. Officially, Harold Potter was now retired, yet he went into the office far too often for someone who was no longer working.

"Hello Mr. Potter," Remus said politely.

"Hello Remus, how've you been?"

"I'm good, thank you. And you?"

"I've been better I must say," Mr. Potter responded and sipped his steaming coffee. He turned to James. "Do you know when Sirius is stopping by?"

James shook his head. "He's probably not even up yet, I'm guessing sometime after lunch."

Mr. Potter nodded. "I'll leave you two be, I'm going to go wash up."

"See you later Dad,"

Mr. Potter picked up his coffee mug and made his way out of the kitchen, up the stairs and out of sight. James watched him go and turned to Remus who was giving him a concerned look.

"No, none of that," James told his friend, as he pointed his index finger at the expression Remus was currently wearing. "If I'm not allowed to give you those looks around the full moon your not allowed to give them to me either."

Remus held up his hands in defense. "I know, I know, I'm just used to the Potter residence being a little more cheerful. Are you sure you guys are fine with Sirius and I staying over."

"You're staying." James told him firmly. "It'll help make things seem normal again."

Remus nodded and decided to change the subject. "Do you still have that mirror?"

James gave him a look.

"Of course you do. Anyway, why don't we give Sirius a bit of a surprise?"

James made the connection and a smile grew on his face. "Brilliant." He reached into his pocket and pulled the square mirror out.

"Let's do it outside though, we don't want to wake your parents." Remus warned.

"Mate, we can do magic," James reminded him, grabbing his wand and waving it towards the staircase.

"You're not supposed to use magic outside of school."

"Remus, when have I ever done what I was supposed to do?" James asked

Remus sighed and James smiled.

"I've missed that sound."

"My sigh?"

"Yes, it means your giving in, its wonderful really."

Remus punched him in the arm.

They turned their attention back to the mirror. "Sirius Black," James said clearly. The reflection shifted to that of a ceiling covered in red and gold Gryffindor memorabilia. James took his wand and pointed it at his neck, and then Remus's, each time saying, "_Sonorus_,"

Then, both boys took a deep breath and yelled.

"What the-" They heard someone yell, clearly disoriented and James wished they could've seen his face.

And he got his wish, but a moment later, when Sirius Black, hair shaggier than usual, some dried drool on his chin, and his eyes alive with anger.

"Mornin' Siri," Remus said sweetly, though it sounded more like a boom. James took his wand and muttered, "_Quietus_,"

"How'd you sleep?" James added, now with a normal voice.

"I am going to kill both of you," Sirius told them, an evil look in his eyes.

"If you do that I don't think my parents would want you to stay with them for the rest of the holiday," James told him

Sirius thought for a moment. "Fair point, I'll get you back during the school year,"

"I'm shaking in my boots," Remus deadpanned.

Sirius looked up from the mirror as if he heard something. "Shit, it's my Mum, see you guys later,"

The reflection in the mirror returned to Remus and James's.

"Well that was fun," James said with a smile.

* * *

Sirius appeared in the Potter fireplace at around noon. He held with him his trunk, which had the arms of shirts and robes sticking out of it. Hauling it out of the fireplace and dusting the soot off of himself, Sirius looked around the room.

"About time you showed up mate," James told him. He was sitting at a couch, throwing a ball against the wall and catching it when it bounced back to him. Remus was reading a book next to him, looking irritated as the ball sailed over his head and then came sailing back, just missing him every time.

"Yeah, well I like to sleep. Plus my parents yelled at me for making so much noise at such an ungodly hour." Sirius gave Remus and James a significant look respectively.

James threw the ball. "Yeah well, we were bored." He caught it as it bounced off.

"Well we'll see how you like it next time I get bored," Sirius told him, abandoning his trunk by the fireplace and walking over to his friends.

James threw the ball and caught it.

"We were gonna head into Muggle London, explore a bit," James didn't look at his friend as he said this, instead focusing on the red ball as it soared towards the wall and then made its way back.

"Cool, where are your parents?"

"Dad's at the Ministry and Mum's sleeping," James told him. He threw the ball again. It hit the wall and bounced-

Remus's hand shot out and intercepted the ball. James and Sirius stared at him openmouthed.

"What?" Remus asked.

"Super werewolf reflexes," Sirius said. Remus threw the ball at him and it bounced of Sirius's forehead and back into Remus's hand. Remus had a smirk on his face, James laughed, and Sirius looked ready to lunge.

"Enough of that," James put a hand on Sirius's chest to keep him from lunging. "Let's Floo over to the Leaky Cauldron."

Sirius pouted but acquiesced. "Fine,"

Remus dropped the red ball onto the couch and left his book next to it and the thresome made their way over to the fireplace Sirius had just entered from.

James grabbed the pot of Floo Powder and let his friends each grab a handful before grabbing one himself and putting the pot back in its place.

"Ladies first," James said, shoving Sirius into the fireplace. Sirius stuck his tongue out at his friend, threw the powder down while saying, "Diagon Alley," and disappeared.

Remus went next, vanishing with the bright green flames.

Then James entered the fireplace, dropped the powder at his feet and, as the green flames roared around him, clearly said, "Diagon Alley,"

Sucked through a tube and unable to see anything, James experienced the usual feelings of discomfort before he appeared in the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron.

He climbed out and found Remus and Sirius next to the bar, Sirius trying to convince Tom to give him some Firewiskey and Remus watching the exchange amusedly.

"Listen kid, I'm not giving you any, come back in four years," Tom told Sirius, annoyance creeping into his voice.

Sirius pushed himself away from the bar, calling over his shoulder, "See you in one,"

"Quit being a prat," James scolded his friend as they entered London from nowhere, and made a left, walking past the record store.

"I wasn't being a prat," Sirius defended himself. "I just wanted to try some,"

As they spoke they constantly dodged people and squeezed between groups.

"Why's it so crowded?" Sirius asked.

"You're in a major city, in the middle of the summer at lunch time, did you expect it to be deserted?"

"Touché,"

They decided to actually look inside a few shops rather than just look around. James had gotten some of his money converted to Muggle money though Remus was the only one who actually knew how to use it properly.

The first shop they entered appeared to be a cheap toy store, but James and Sirius loved it but Remus, who went to Muggle London more frequently, wasn't impressed.

James and Sirius filled bags with toys: dozens of Matchbox and green army men, Rubix cubes, silly putty, play dough, sling-shots, silly string, and fun snaps (these little paper ball things that explode when you throw them on the grown).

After having Remus pay they exited the small shop.

"I can't believe you guys never learned how to use Muggle money," Remus told them.

"That's why we're taking Muggle studies Moony, so we can play with Matbots and Rubet cubes," Sirius told him.

"Matchbox and Rubix cubes," Remus corrected him.

"Whatever,"

"So are we gonna eat or what? I'm starving." James asked.

They all agreed to find a place to eat before returning to the Potter residence (as they had some how managed to spend over an hour at that one shop). Sirius spotted this one restaurant and forced James and Remus to eat there. It turned out to be a Chinese Food restaurant.

"This stuff is amazing!" James said happily, his mouth full of pork fried rice. James and Sirius spent the first five minutes after getting their food trying to figure out how to use their chopsticks before James gave up and Transfigured them into forks underneath the table.

They ate their food until their plates were cleaned. Then they got the bill and some Fortune Cookies.

Sirius cracked one open. "'A fresh start will put you on your way.' Well alright," He ate the cookie.

James cracked his open and read, "Don't be discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward."

Remus opened his. "A dubious friend may be an enemy in camouflage." He read. "I better watch my back," He added sarcastically.

"Let's grab a couple more of these, maybe we can convince Peter they're real," Sirius suggested.

Remus paid the bill and asked for a few more fortune cookies. After they got them the threesome made their way back into the streets and made the push towards the Leaky Cauldron.

**A/N: I'm sorry, I know it's been longer than it should've been (almost a month!) but I've been busy. I went to Harvard Model Congress a couple weekends back and had to make up work I missed, and then I got sick and had a ton of extra make up work. I hope you liked the chapter, and please review, they'll make chapters come more regularly.**


	3. Hogwarts Bound

3. Hogwarts Bound

James ran around his room, throwing stuff into his trunk at lightening speed. Books, cauldron, quills, parchment, robes, jeans, shirts, cloaks, owl-

"Sorry Aquila," James apologized to his owl, who he had just grabbed and thrown into his open trunk. She gave him an angry look and a short hoot and then refused to make eye contact with him.

James murmured under his breath and continued throwing things into his trunk, checking his watch as he did so.

"Dammit," He made a frustrated noise as he read 10:30 on the clock face. He gave his room a once over, not noticing anything that should be in his trunk. He closed it up and sighed, looking out his window at the backyard.

He cursed. His broom lay on the grass, along with a couple of old ones that his Dad had used. James smacked himself on the forehead and ran out of his room, through the hallway and to the stairs. He went down the first third of the staircase and then, holding onto the railing, jumped the remaining steps, landing neatly at the bottom. He stood up straight, and ran through the kitchen and into the backyard.

"Ah-ha!" James said triumphantly, holding the broom over his head. He started walking towards the door when he saw the window to his room was open. Smiling he hopped onto his broom and kicked off of the ground, zooming into the air, messing up his hair even more and sending his glasses askew.

James whooped and did a loop before bringing his body down onto the broom as he flew directly through the window. Once in his room he dismounted.

"There," He said to himself happily as he closed his mess of a trunk. He grabbed his wand off of his night table and pointed it at the trunk, swishing and flicking.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_,"

Leaving his room, this time walking and with his trunk floating in front of him James made his way down to the living room where he found Sirius, Remus, his mother and father, and two men in suits.

"Kingsley?" James asked one of the men, a tall black man in his twenties.

"Hello James," He answered in his surprisingly deep voice.

James turned to his father though his question was answered before it left his mouth.

"The Ministry sent us protection since we're targets," He explained. "Kingsley and Rufus are going to escort us to King's Cross."

James nodded. "So are we going?"

His father smiled. "I suppose so,"

"It's about time; I don't know why we didn't leave half an hour ago," And he took his trunk and dragged it with him out the door and to the Ministry car.

The ride was relatively short and the car was extremely comfortable, seven people able to sit in it with enough space to stretch. Not only that, the car seemed to squeeze through tight spaces and move much more quickly than all of the others around it. It raced across the street, dodging cars and buses and just making it before streetlights turned red, as if by magic.

Once at the station, Kingsley and Rufus walked With the Potters, Sirius, and Remus, Kingsley running through the barrier with James, Sirius and Remus going together, and Rufus with Mr. and Mrs. Potter.

James took in Platform 9 and ¾ as he always did. There was a layer of steam from the glistening, scarlet Hogwarts Express and hundreds of people, parents and children, some in Muggle clothing, some so eager they had already donned their robes. And the sound, the sound. Hundred of people talking at once, shoes clacking against the stone floor, owls hooting, toads calling, wheels rolling and sliding towards the train. James smiled wide.

_Hogwarts here I come._

Despite the speed of their journey, there were but 10 minutes until the train began its journey.

"See you Dad," James said, wrapping his arms around his father. His father ruffled his hair.

"Don't get in too much trouble James,"

James smiled up at him, the sparkle of his eye answer enough.

"Bye Mum," James hugged his mother and felt her wrap her arms around him and pull him closer. He kissed her on the cheek.

"Love you," James then turned to his father. "You too of course,"

"Of course," His father returned the smile his son gave him.

"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Potter," Sirius said, pulling them both into a short hug and then pulling away.

"Thank you for letting me stay," Remus thanked the Potters.

"No trouble Remus, you know that," Mrs. Potter told him.

"Any time," Mr. Potter agreed.

Then, with another farewell, James, Sirius, and Remus got onto the train. They hauled their trunks over and found an empty compartment.

James sighed with pleasure as he jumped into a seat. "I'm looking forward to the Feast already,"

"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "Speaking of, where's the trolley lady? I'm starving."

"Sirius, the train hasn't even left; the trolley lady isn't coming by for at least another hour." Remus told him.

Sirius stuck his tongue out at his friend.

"I shouldn't bother asking but have either of you even started your summer work?"

"We had homework over holiday?" Sirius asked. James looked at him blankly.

"Of course," Remus said to himself. "Why would you?"

"Excellent question Moony. Why would we? Don't you know us at all?" James smirked at his friend.

"And I suppose you two expect me to let you copy mine?"

Sirius smiled. "That's a good lad. For a minute I was afraid you'd forgotten everything we taught you."

Remus looked irritated. "Sorry mate, you'll have to do your own."

Sirius looked like a wounded puppy. "But-but-but Remmy!" he whined.

"It shouldn't be too hard for you Siri dear, what is it you two always say… natural brilliance?"

James stared at his friend. "Well played good sir." He reached into his trunk and pulled out a piece of paper and a quill. "Could you at least tell us what it is?"

Remus nodded, reached into his own trunk, and pulled out his old homework pad. He tossed it to James.

James opened it and flipped through the pages until he reached the end of last year. There, in Remus's neat scrawl read:

_Transfiguration: Two rolls of parchment on Switching Spells _

_ Charms: One roll of parchment on Levitation charms and their uses_

_ Potions: Twelve inches on the Shrinking Solution and its uses_

_ Herbology: One roll on proper Greenhouse conduct_

_ History of Magic: Two rolls on why Witch hunting was pointless_

"Ugh," James groaned. "I wish we knew our schedules already, then I wouldn't have to do it all now."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sirius asked.

"Split the work and then switch papers?"

"Exactly!" They high-fived.

"I'll take Transfiguration and Herbology," James announced.

"I'll do History of Magic and Charms but I'm not doing more than you are." Sirius told him.

"We could work together on Potions," James suggested.

"Brilliant." Sirius started pulling out his books as did James.

"You guys will have to spend the whole train ride to finish all of this, even if you do split it," Remus told his two friends. "This wouldn't have happened if-"

"Relax Moony, it'll take a couple hours at most," Sirius said, waving off his friend's worries.

"How do you expect to do that?" Remus asked disbelievingly.

James tapped his head. "Natural brilliance,"

Remus rolled his eyes.

Just then the train started moving. James looked up from the parchment he had just titled _Switching Spells_ and written his name on to watch Platform 9 and ¾ disappear as they sped out of London.

Within a couple of minutes of the train beginning its journey their compartment door opened to reveal Peter Pettigrew. He was still short, his blond hair lighter than ever and his blue eyes still watery. He was a little thicker than he had been at the end of second year and a lot more sunburned.

"Pete!" James said happily.

"Hey guys," Peter responded, waving and pulling his trunk in. He tried to put it up onto the rack but couldn't muster the strength. Remus waved his wand and it floated upward and landed nicely.

"Magic, right," Peter murmured. He sat down next to Remus.

"So how was Egypt?" Remus asked.

"Well, it was alright. There was some really cool stuff, the tombs were pretty freaky but still brilliant. Or at least it would've been if I hadn't activated one of the traps."

"How'd you manage that?" Sirius questioned.

"Oh, you know, I tripped and knocked over some few century old vase that happened to carry some curse. I got boils and I went blind and practically every bug in Egypt started attacking me the moment I left." He told them, scratching his head. "Some healers fixed me up and then we went to some of the Wizarding towns and stuff. I got you guys some souvenirs."

He went to his trunk and pulled out a bag.

"This," He said pulling out golden circle plate the size of his hand. "Is a Sun Disk." He pressed on it and the Sun Disk glowed brighter and brighter until it hurt to look at it. The light dimmed. "Pretty cool, right?"

"Really cool," James responded, moving closer to get a better look at it. It was flat and smooth and without a speck of dirt and James was able to see his reflection in it. It had no visible buttons, just a small eye like symbol in the center on both sides. Peter handed the one he was holding to James and then gave Sirius and Remus two identical Disks.

"Thanks Pete,"

"Yeah thanks,"

"You're the best Peter,"

Peter blushed a little, not that you could tell, his sunburn was so bad.

James and Sirius went back to doing their homework and Peter, who had finished all but his essay on Witch hunting, asked for Remus's help.

"No fair!" Sirius whined. "Why are you helping him but not us?"

"Because he actually tried to do it, you're just too lazy." Remus responded.

"But I did _try_, I just decided not to because I'm too lazy," Sirius retorted.

"I know, and that's why I'm not helping you."

"Must be your time of the month," Sirius muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Remus asked, even though he clearly heard it.

"Nothing, nothing," Sirius replied, backing off. James laughed at the exchange and finished up the Transfiguration essay.

"One down!" He said triumphantly, holding the parchment up and practically shoving it into Remus's face. "Two rolls of parchment in twenty minutes."

Remus took the essay from James and started reading it, obviously expecting for it to be atrocious. He was surprised to find it not just good, but great.

"But you barely opened your textbook!" Remus exclaimed.

James tapped his head again, not explaining any further as there was no explanation necessary.

Remus rolled his eyes.

James and Sirius finished their essays within the hour, then after spending no more than fifteen minutes working on the Potions assignment, switched essays, reworded them slightly, and finished their summer assignments.

"Told you so," Sirius said to Remus victoriously as he shoved his papers and books into his trunk.

Remus didn't respond as he was reading at the moment. Peter snored quietly, his head lolled to one side and drool dripping from his mouth. James looked out the window, seeing the country pass them by, stretches of open grassland and occasional patches of trees that they flew by in less than a minute.

Sirius reached into his pocket and pulled out a miniature motorbike. It was his favorite of the Matchbox cars he and James had bought in Muggle London. Making realistic noises he drove it down the seat, up onto the wall and everywhere within his arm span.

"Anything from the trolley?" The kind lady asked. James and Sirius jumped up and practically cleared cart, dumping gold, silver, and copper coins in the stead of the sweets.

Dumping the candy into an empty seat, James looked to his friends and said, "Dig in,"

* * *

The Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmede station and students poured out of the scarlet steam engine. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter climbed off in their Hogwarts robes and climbed into one of the horse-less carriages.

It was drizzling, making James glad to be in the covered carriages rather than the boats the First years would be riding to the school in. The moon shone through the clouds, a little past half full and the white light making every drop of rain visible as it fell to earth and blanketed the school and grounds. The water also made the path slightly muddier leaving slight hove tracks in the mud along with the lines that marked the wheels' path.

They arrived at the front doors of the school and ran in, James feeling the rain land in his hair, maneuver onto his skull and then dribble down his back. He shivered. As the school made its way into the Great Hall the sound of squeaking shoes was almost unbearable, people like Sirius making it worse than it needed to be.

_Squeak, squeak, squeak_. The noise rang in James's ear and he was thankful when the last student sat down at the bench. The warmth of the floating candles started to dry the slightly damp students as they waited for the First years to be sorted.

Within the five minutes the oak doors were pushed open and McGonagall lead the line of First years up to the front of the hall. She placed the stool on the ground and the beaten Sorting Hat on top of it.

The Hat opened its mouth and began to sing:

_Many, many years ago,_

Sirius leaned closer to James and whispered in his ear. "Have you seen Evans yet?"

James turned his attention away from the Sorting Hat and began scanning the Gryffindor table for the redhead, finding her only a few people down to his left. Her flaming hair cascaded around her pale, freckled face, and even from the distance, James could see the sparkle of her emerald eyes as they stared intently at the Sorting Hat and the scrunch of her nose as she concentrated. She was breathing softly and James watched her for a moment until she seemed to get the feeling she was being watched and turned to look at him.

James turned away quickly, shooting his head towards the Sorting Hat and running his hand through his hair as a blush crept up to his cheeks. Out of the corner of his eye he could've sworn he saw her smile before returning her attention to the singing hat.

James was too preoccupied with his thoughts to notice that the Sorting Hat had stopped singing and that First years were being Sorted. He hardly noticed that he clapped along with the rest of his table when a student came to the Gryffindor table.

When he came back to himself he noticed that Sirius had been laughing.

"What's so funny?" James asked, having an inkling already.

"You Romeo," Sirius responded with a smirk

James punched him. "Shut up,"

Professor Dumbledore stood and raised his hands for silence.

"Welcome," He started. "To another year at Hogwarts. I have a list of things I'm supposed to tell you about, but those can wait until after we feast. However, I would like for us to give a warm Hogwarts welcome to our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Welch!"

The Hall clapped and the man for whom they were clapping stood up to receive his applause. He was a tall man, probably in his late twenties. He had short, brown hair and facial hair surrounding his mouth, a mustache and short beard combo, also brown. He had long muscular arms yet gave off the general feel of a lanky man. His smile was warm and his blue eyes sparkled in the candle light.

James turned away from their new Professor, who had sat down, as the food appeared on the previously empty golden plates. James piled his high with assorted foods and began stuffing his face. He had forgotten just how good the food at Hogwarts was and relished in its taste, eating far more than he should have but still having room for dessert when the dinner food turned to sweets.

He had eaten so much that his pants felt tight, and he didn't listen to a word of what the Headmaster said, even though he was sure that half the stuff that had been added to the already long list of "Things not permitted at Hogwarts" was probably due to the activities of he and his friends in their previous year at the school. When the rest of the school stood he did as well, and, already half asleep, he stumbled up to the Gryffindor Common room, made his way to the same dorm, now with a sign reading "Third Years" and jumped onto his bed. He changed into his pajamas and fell asleep the moment his head touched his pillow.

**A/N: Chapter 3! I hope you liked it and thank you to all of you that reviewed. In response to one of those reviews, which was anonymous, regarding James's use of Transfiguration on chopsticks in Muggle London, the only reason I can come up with for the Ministry not tracking him down (because I had actually completely forgotten) is because it was the middle of a city, they were constantly moving around, and/or any witch or wizard could have been in London. Sorry for that. Anyway please leave a review for this chapter, I would really appreciate it.**


	4. Predictions and Televisions

4. Predictions and Televisions

James and co entered the Great Hall the next morning in high spirits. The foursome sat down at the Gryffindor table and piled food onto their plates as they waited for Professor McGonagall to make her way up the table to them so they may receive their schedules.

"I wonder what the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is like," Peter thought aloud in between forkfuls of eggs.

"Well, based on the reaction of every girl in the school, he's quite attractive." Remus pointed out. James looked up from his food and watched the girls of Hogwarts.

A Ravenclaw with dark hair and her blond friend, both in Sixth Year, were whispering excitedly to one another, shooting glances at the teacher as they did so. A group of Hufflepuff girls wished him a good morning as they made their way to the Hufflepuff table and blushed when he smiled and responded to their greeting.

James saw Max and Annebeth sitting not too far away from him.

"Annebeth!" James called to her.

"Hi James," She smiled at him.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Max asked.

James waved off Max and turned to Annebeth. "Settle something for me, would ya? Is Professor Welch hot?"

Annebeth thought a second, looked over to the teacher's table and then returned her gaze to James. "I'd hit that,"

James was taken aback by the response. Sirius spewed Pumpkin Juice laughing and Max looked outraged.

"What?" Annebeth asked.

James shook his head. "Nothing, just surprised is all." He turned to Max. "Looks like you have some competition."

Max threw a biscuit at him.

"And I already hate him." Max said to no one in particular.

Annebeth hit him playfully. "Don't be such a killjoy, I'm only playing."

Max rolled his eyes.

"The again-" Annebeth started the sentence but thought it best not to finish it at Max's reaction.

McGonagall finally reached the Marauders.

"'Morning Professor," James greeted her.

"Good morning Mr. Potter." She nodded to him, took a blank schedule and tapped it with her wand. "Her you are,"

James grabbed it and thanked her. She gave Sirius, Remus, and Peter theirs as well and then continued to move down the table.

"What've we got today?" Sirius asked as he had been too occupied with his food to bother reading through it.

James scanned the paper. "We start a couple of new subjects today. First we've got Divination, then Transfiguration. After lunch we've got Muggle Studies."

"Cool, we get to start some new classes," Remus said happily.

Sirius looked at him as if he had grown a second head. "Cool? Cool?" He asked in disbelief.

Remus shrugged.

They finished their breakfast and began the journey to the North Tower. Fabian and Gideon warned them that it took a good amount of time to get to the Divination room and it was a good thing they did so as it took the Marauders almost half an hour to make it to the top.

"Where's the classroom?" Sirius asked looking around as if expecting the twins to jump out and start laughing at them.

Peter, who was out of breath and panting, sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall, answered. "It's like an attic; a ladder comes down when class starts."

Sirius started walking around the platform they were stuck on, looking at the paintings on the walls. Peter remained sitting and continued to catch his breath and Remus began leafing through _Unfogging the Future_, their textbook. James read over his shoulder, too lazy to pull out his own book.

The rest of their Divination class made their way to the platform and space was beginning to run out by the time it was nine o'clock and the ladder fell from the ceiling.

James was among the first up the ladder, making his way into a hot stuffy classroom with shelves filled with crystal balls and tea sets. A fireplace had a blazing fire that cast an orangish glow on the pink and red furniture which was otherwise left in darkness as thick maroon curtains covered the windows. The smell of different perfumes was overwhelming.

James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter grabbed a pair of the small circular tables, James and Sirius sitting at one while Remus and Peter took the other. The rest of the class filled in and then they all sat, waiting until-

From a perfumed fog that James hadn't noticed before appeared a woman. She was relatively tall with dark skin and curly, beaded, graying hair. Her eyes were a warm brown, the same shade as her skin, which had only slight wrinkles around the eyes and forehead. She wore small, half-moon glasses with gold rims, bejeweled at the corners. Her clothes matched the room, creating an effect that made her every move almost shimmer.

"It's good to meet you all in person," She greeted her class with a slight smile as she scanned their faces. "I am Cassandra Pythia and I will be your Divination teacher." She stepped out of the fog and began to pace across the room, looking at students as she made her way through the circular tables and back to her place in front of the fireplace. She pulled out her wand and waved it, causing the tea sets James had noticed earlier to fly to the tables, giving each student a cup, the teapot pouring tea into each one that found its place.

"Today, we will begin reading tealeaves. Drink up," She gave them another once over and then sat down in a large, puffy looking chair, crossing her legs and clasping her hands together as she continued to scan the room.

The class sipped its tea. James shot a look at Sirius who made a slight shrug in response.

They finished their tea and swilled the remaining dregs around.

"Excellent, now switch cups and use pages five and six to make predictions for your partner." Professor Pythia stood up and began to make her way through the room again, keeping on her face the whole time, a smile suggesting that she knew more than she was letting on.

James looked into Sirius's cup, seeing exactly what he had expected, a glop of brown tea dregs. He opened his book and scanned the pages of pictures and meanings.

"Do you wanna start?" Sirius asked him, looking up from James's cup with a look of confusion James was sure he shared.

"Sure." He looked closer at the bottom of the tea cup and then looked back towards the picture.

"Sorta looks like a scale… you're gonna have legal troubles. Then a flower, you're popular. And a dish… trouble at home." James finished his shoddy predictions and Sirius laughed.

"Talk about an understatement." Sirius responded with a smile. He pushed his bangs out of his face. "Right, let's see… So, I'll call that a snake, which means you have an enemy." He looked up at James. "No shit," Sirius added and then looked back into the cup. And a bug, or a dot, or a-"

Professor Pythia appeared behind Sirius and looked into the cup. "A bee: romantic troubles." She looked up from the cup and stared James in the eye, a look of amusement and dismay at the same time. Then she moved on.

"Okay," Sirius said, drawing out the word and giving James a look that clearly said this-class-is-complete-hippogriff-dung.

She continued checking on the class until about five minutes before its end when she said, "You may put your things away now. Until next time."

Professor Pythia then stood up and returned to the perfume fog that kept the back of the room out of the students' view. James and his friends made his way down the ladder, knowing that they had to hurry if they wanted to make it to Transfiguration on time.

* * *

James sat down at a desk and began to examine the stuff that lay on top of it. Sirius, who was sitting to his left, was doing the same. On the desk sat a book the length and width about that of his textbook, only it was a lot thinner and filled with white squares covered in blue, parallel lines. It had a curly metal binding that Sirius was already pulling out of the holes that it sat in and the cover was a different color on each desk in the row: red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and orange. Next to it was a thin cylindrical item. It was clear which allowed James to see yet another cylinder within it, this one filled with black stuff. One side of the item was pointy with a hole, the other was a button. James pressed it and, out of the other end, came a metal point.

"What is this stuff?" Sirius asked as he clicked his pen over and over again, marveling at the way the metal tip appeared and then retreated back into the device.

"That," Their teacher said, appearing in front of the class. "Is a pen. It is used for writing."

James looked his Muggle Studies teacher over. She looked to be in her mid-forties, with short, straight, brown hair that was graying. Her hair went a little below her earlobe but not much and it looked sort of like a bowl. She had a small nose and her face was spotted with freckles and the occasional wrinkle. She wore, not robes, but a blouse, khaki pants, and plain, brown flats.

"I am Professor Wilson, and this is Muggle Studies. This class will be different from any of your other classes at Hogwarts. Here we won't study any magic. Instead we will learn about Muggle life. Over the next couple of years you will learn about the everyday life of Muggles today, their technology, their jobs, current issues in their world, and anything else having to do with Muggle life. You will also learn as if you were Muggle children, studying things like Math, Science, History, and English. It is a very interesting subject, and I look forward to teaching you." She clapped her hands together.

"Our first lesson will be about electricity. We will be discussing this topic all year but we will need a basic understanding of it before we can go any further." She walked up to the chalkboard, picked up a piece of chalk and began writing on the board. "Please open your notebooks and take notes in them using your pens. All homework for this class will be done in Muggle fashion so you're going to have to get used to it."

The class spent the rest of the period taking notes as they listened to Professor Wilson describe to them electricity and how it worked. She told the of different things that ran on electricity and, at the class's conclusion, assigned them homework.

"For homework, you're to read the first chapter on electricity and its uses and take notes. I also want you to practice saying the vocabulary words as they are new to you. Class dismissed."

James packed up his books and left the classroom with his friends.

"Electricity is really cool!" Sirius said excitedly. "I wish we could have selevisions and all that other stuff here."

"I'ts television," Remus corrected him. "And we can't, Hogwarts's magic interferes with electricity. Phones and other Muggle technology doesn't work here, it gets shorted out."

"Well, maybe I can bring stuff to my house, even if it wouldn't work, it would annoy the hell out of my parents." Sirius responded with a smirk. "You should've seen my Mum's face when she saw my book list. I think she almost had a heart attack."

**A/N: Here's the chapter; the next one we'll meet the DADA teacher. Hope you liked it. Thank you for reading and please leave a review. **

**Until next time :)**


	5. DADA Dueling

5. DADA Dueling

James flipped through the Rune dictionary on his leg, his eyes darting from left to right, taking in the line of symbols, their pronunciations and their meanings as he searched for the last symbol on the assignment Professor Allen had given the Ancient Runes class.

Professor Allen had wasted no time in jumping into the subject. A man of average height, bald by choice, with grey-blue eyes that had wrinkles around them and glasses he put on and took off every five minutes, was nice enough. He jumped around the class asking questions to start the class before jumping into a lecture without warning, forcing his students to rustle through their bags for some parchment and a quill to take notes with. The assignment was pretty simple, he gave out a list of runes and told them to translate them and copy the rune and its translation three times each.

Just as James was finishing up the assignment the bell rang. The last period had been a study hall and, though James and Sirius had spent a good amount of time goofing off, a glare from Professor McGonagall and a look from Remus got them to take out some work. The Ancient Runes work, being the easiest, was the obvious choice.

"Well that was fun," James said sarcastically to Remus as they packed up and headed to their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class with their new Professor.

"Did you get your homework done?" Remus asked him.

"Yeah,"

"Well then now you have more free time later,"

James thought for a moment, spluttered a bit and then responded with, "None of that logic nonsense, Moony. No one likes it."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Did you finish anything Sirius?"

Sirius shook his head, making his long hair get in his face. He pushed it behind his ear. "Nah, I just doodled."

"Well now you're gonna have to do that later, and James isn't."

James poked Sirius. "Ha ha,"

Sirius stuck his tongue out.

"Honestly, I don't know why you guys never do homework during Study, it makes it so you have barely any after classes are done." Remus wondered aloud.

James didn't bother answering his friend as they had just arrived at the Defense room. Since the school year's start, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had been all anyone was talking about. The female population of Hogwarts blushed and giggled at his good looks, and anyone who could form a sentence around the teacher thought he was amazing. Fabain and Gideon had told the Marauders all about Welch's class after they had him on the first day of school.

"He's awesome!"

"Brilliant. You guys are in for a treat, especially since you haven't had a good Defense teacher yet."

The room was the same James had sat in for Defense since he arrived at Hogwarts, and yet it was entirely different. For one thing there were no desks except for the teacher's desk which was directly in front of the chalkboard. At the desk sat Professor Welch, looking the same as he had at the Great Hall. The class filled in, marveling at the items that filled the shelves, books of spells, dueling trophies, and then things like Sneakoscopes and other magical devices used by Aurors, things James was familiar with due to his father's background.

The class stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, waiting for instructions from their teacher. When the door shut behind the last student Professor Welch stood up.

"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts." He began, walking around his desk and then standing in front of it. "I am Professor Welch and this year we will focus on Defensive Magic, Offensive Magic, formal dueling, and informal dueling. As I am sure you have all noticed things outside of Hogwarts aren't at their best, some even say there is a war coming. I'm not sure about that, and I don't want to scare you but you need to be prepared, able to defend yourself and fight back. Today's lesson will be a practical one, just to see how familiar you are with dueling and how skilled you are individually." Professor Welch pulled his wand out of his robe pocket and pointed it at the chalkboard revealing a bracket.

"Today we will have a little dueling tournament, this way I can see how skilled you are, and you can learn basic dueling skills. There are nine of you so we will do two brackets and the winner of the first will sit out from the second. Anyone want to volunteer to sit out for the first round?"

Frank raised his hand and James felt relieved. Everyone in the class knew that Frank, who had spent all of the previous year studying and training, was definitely the best dueler out of the Third Year Gryffindors.

Welch nodded. "The winners of the two tournaments will duel to be the ultimate winner who will get this," He held up a huge Honeydukes candy bar up for the class. "As their prize."

The class nodded in understanding. James bounced around in his place, excited and ready for his duel.

"First up, Alice Dearborn and Marlene McKinnon."

The class backed up and Alice and Marlene stepped forward, going onto either side of their Professor.

"In a duel, you bow to your opponent like so," Welch held his wand in front of him like a broadsword and bowed deeply to the class before coming back to an upright position, then he entered his fighting stance.

Alice and Marlene did the same, bowing to each other and then standing up straight, wands pointed at each other.

"On three. One, two, THREE!"

"_Expelliarmus!_"

"_Everte Statum!_"

The spells shot from their caster's wand, Alice's just missing Marlene, but Marlene's making its mark, knocking Alice backward. Professor Welch used a Cushioning Charm so Alice didn't get hurt as she was thrown into the wall.

"Marlene!"

The chalkboard moved Marlene's name to the next level.

"Excellent job girls," Professor Welch congratulated them as they joined the rest of the class.

"Next, Mary MacDonald and Lily Evans,"

The two girls stood up and got into their positions. They bowed to each other and then waited for their Professor.

On three a shield appeared in front of Lily, knocking Mary's Jelly-Leg Jinx right back at her, but Mary dodged it. Lily had anticipated this, sending Disarming spells to either side of her friend, and Mary walked right into one as she attempted to jump out of the way of her own ricocheting jinx.

Lily helped her friend back up and they rejoined the group, Professor Welch telling them how well they did and then looking to the board for the next match.

"James Potter and Remus Lupin!"

James and Remus stood up and looked at each other. James smiled at Remus who smiled back as they stared at each other from opposite ends of the room. They bowed and then readied themselves for the match.

"THREE!"

Both boys were momentarily surprised at their teacher skipping the numbers one and two but they recovered at the same time, both of them yelling "_Protego!_", blocking a spell that hadn't been cast.

James pointed his wand at himself, "_Ascendio_!" And he launched into the air, with his left hand he touched the ceiling and then he jabbed his wand at a surprised Remus.

"_Stupefy_!"

Remus was knocked back, but James conjured a cushion underneath his friend as he plummeted towards the floor.

"_Aresto Momentum!_"

James stopped less than a foot above the stone floor and then slowly made the rest of the journey to earth.

Remus was revived and James helped them up, they rejoined the group and Professor Welch granted five points to Gryffindor for, "Creative Dueling,"

Sirius vs. Peter was the last match of the first round, and it was over less than a second after Professor Welch yelled "THREE!" with a Bat-Bogey Hex from Sirius striking Peter before he had even thought of a spell.

"And that ends the first round. For the first match of the second, Marlene and Lily!"

The two friends stood up and went to either side of the room, the looks on their face clearly saying, "We may be friends, but that won't stop me from destroying you."

"One, two, THREE!"

The two girls shot identical hexes, neither making its mark. This didn't seem to deter them though, as they both shot a volley of hexes at each other, blocking and dodging whatever came their way. James and Sirius shared a look of disbelief at the ferocity of the two. The duel didn't last too long though, considering, a powerful Shield Charm from Lily sending Marlene's blitz of spells back at her.

Professor Welch was lost for words for a second, but he regained his composure and pronounced Lily the winner of her match. Then he called James and Sirius.

The two brothers bumped fists before going onto either side of the room. They bowed to each other but only for a second, as both expected the other to attack prematurely. They stared each other down and stood tense, ready for the countdown.

"One, two, THREE!"

Sirius shot a Stunning Spell at James who rolled out of the way, aiming at his best friend's legs and yelling, "_Colloshoo_!" Sirius gut struck with the spell but felt unchanged until he tried to take a step towards James. His shoes were stuck to the ground.

James took advantage of the momentary distraction and shot his own Stunning Spell at Sirius who quickly flicked his wand and said, "_Protego!_" James shot a powerful hex at the shield and broke it, but Sirius had dived underneath it, hauling himself out of his shoes and onto the floor. James shot a Disarming spell at Sirius, but Sirius rolled out of the way and, from the floor, shot a Jelly-Legs Jinx at James who had to jump over it.

Getting an idea as Sirius stood up, James pointed his wand at Sirius's shoes, which were still stuck to the floor, and Transfigured them into a swirling cloud of colored smoke, blocking him from Sirius's view, but still leaving Sirius in James's sights.

"_Stupefy_," James whispered so Sirius wouldn't hear. The spell hit its target and Sirius froze on the ground. James flicked his wand and returned the colored smoke to his friend's shoes. Welch revived Sirius.

"James Potter!"

James helped Sirius stand up and patted him on the back. Sirius smiled good-naturedly and high-fived James. James went with Sirius to sit down, but didn't even get the chance as, before he could, Professor Welch called, "Lily Evans and James Potter,"

James made a noise of annoyance, but returned to the front of the classroom. Lily smiled at him from across the room and, for a naïve second, James thought she might go easy on him. They bowed and then prepared to duel, and on three, they did.

James was completely wrong about her going easy on him, her initial volley of Jelly-Leg Jinxes and Bat-Bogey Hexes proving that, but James was prepared, dodging some and using a Shield Charm to deflect the others. He returned fire with an array of hexes and jinxes and spells he had learned with Sirius over the summer and during his years as a prankster, causing bright, distracting lights, to blind Lily and following these with Disarming and Stunning Spells.

He hadn't given Lily enough credit though. She had cast a Shield charm at the last second, forcing James into Quidditch mode, bobbing and weaving past his own spells and Lily's new ones.

Continuing in his effort to distract her in order to beat her, James conjured a large bubble in between them, which got in the way of one of her spells, just as he had planned. When Lily's Disarming Spell made contact with the bubble, it shot backwards and then exploded into a thousand smaller bubbles. James sent this flying at his opponent who cast a shield charm. Before the bubbles met the shield charm, James Transfigured them into rope, which broke through Lily's shield and tied her up.

Professor Welch flicked his wand and the ropes disappeared. Then he started clapping.

"James Potter, winner of tournament one!"

James walked up to Lily and shook her hand, smiling at her. "Good Game,"

"Not bad Potter," Lily responded. "Not bad at all."

James joined the rest of the class where they sat on the floor. Professor Welch tapped the chalkboard with his wand and the bracket changed, excluding James's name and replacing it with Frank's.

James found being a spectator far more relaxing and a different kind of enjoyable. Watching Alice best Marlene and Peter surprise Sirius, even if he didn't end up beating him, was cool. In the end, to no one's surprise, Frank won the second bracket.

"Can I just hand in my wand?" James joked as he walked up to Frank to shake his hand.

"Good luck James," Frank told his friend. They moved to either side of the room.

They bowed to each other.

"And now, for all of the marbles," Their teacher paused for dramatic effect. "One, two, THREE!"

The duel started with an explosion, the collision of James and Frank's Stunning Spells. Both were knocked back a little but managed to stay on their feet. There was a moment of silence, and then yells and flashes of light. James knew that Frank was far better than him, so the only way he could win would be by catching Frank by surprise or getting Frank to mess up. The problem was, Frank had gotten to sit and watch James duel, watch James win, he knew that was how James dueled so he would be able to prepare himself for it.

Frank pointed his wand at James, jabbed in his direction, but didn't say a word. The spell shot at James, he knew he didn't have enough time to cast a shield charm so he dived out of the way. In the clear for a second James smiled but it was quickly wiped from his face as another jet of light zoomed towards him. Rolling out of the way like a dog, James conjured smoke from his wand, surrounding himself and his half of the classroom in smoke and for no reason other than to show off he made the smoke slowly change colors, circling through the colors of the rainbow. He closed his eyes and listened intently. Frank was taking the opportunity to catch his breath, from what James could tell he hadn't moved.

Suddenly, a jet of red pierced through the green smoke, missing James by an inch. James, getting an idea, purposely fell to the ground, his wand at the ready. The smoke was cleared, whether by Professor Welch or Frank James didn't know, and Frank, who thought he had won, had his wand at his side.

As quietly as James could manage the Stunning Spell shot at Frank, followed by a Disarming Spell and a Jelly-Legs Jinx. Frank managed to move out of the way of the Stunner but his wand was forced from his hand and his legs turned to jelly before he could retaliate.

Professor Welch looked both surprised and impressed at James's ingenuity.

"And the winner, James Potter!"

James waved his wand and Frank's legs returned to their normal state. He handed Frank the wand he had taken from him and shook his friend's hand. Professor Welch awarded both James and Frank points, Frank 10 and James 20 for an incredible duel. He gave James the chocolate as the bell rang and James, a wide smile on his face, did an over-exaggerated bow for his classmates.

**A/N: Here's the fifth chapter. I hope you guys liked it, especially since I had fun writing it. Sorry for the delay, hopefully it won't happen again, though I can't make any guarantees. Reviews do encourage me to write though, so please take a second to leave one. **


	6. Down

6. Down

Sirius yawned loudly and stretched his arms and put his right arm over James's shoulders.  
James pushed Sirius's arm off of his shoulder laughing. "Geoff me!" James said, his mouth still filled with waffle. Sirius laughed and pushed James back, knocking him into a first year who looked startled.  
"Sorry," James apologized to the kid who, though only two years younger, seemed a lot smaller than James.  
The kid mumbled a response, not meeting James's eyes before returning to his breakfast. James turned away from him and did the same, flicking Sirius in the ear as revenge for the earlier push.  
Just then, the owls came in with mail. One flew down towards Remus, clutching a Daily Prophet in its claws. James watched Remus grab the paper and drop the couple Knut fee in its pouch.  
"What's new?" James asked.  
"Nothing good," Remus responded, his brow creasing as his eyes flashed back and forth across the paper, the letters reflecting on his brown eyes as his expression became more and more distressed. Remus handed James the paper, the front page sticking out.

_Ministry Officials Missing_

_ John Thomas of the __Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures__ has now been declared missing, joining the ranks of the now half dozen Ministry officials to gain that status in the past fortnight. As of right now no new information is present, however, Bartimus Crouch, newly appointed Head of the Department of Magical Law enforcement, has released a statement._

_ "I urge the Magical Community not to panic. The Auror Department has made the recovery of the missing Ministry officials their top priority and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as a whole will not rest until these people are returned safely to their families."_

The article continued but James had read his fill. Handing the paper back to Remus, James looked at his plate and wasn't as hungry as he had been before. Distracted by his own thoughts after reading the Prophet, he failed to notice the eagle owl to his right until it began pecking at his shoulder. James took the letter off of Aquila's foot and pushed his plate towards her. The owl hopped forward, gave a hoot of appreciation, and helped herself to the remaining bacon on James's plate.

James opened the letter and read it.

_James,_

_ We had a little scare after you left with your mother. She's __**fine**__ and we don't want you to worry. She didn't even want to tell you but I figure you have a right to know. She was experiencing an episode, something completely ordinary for someone who went through what she went through, and so she had to go to St. Mungos and stay the night. I don't want you to worry, everything's fine, the healers prescribed a Draught for Dreamless Sleep and everything's back to normal. On a lighter note, how's school? I heard your new Defense teacher is an Auror, very cool. Have you pulled any pranks yet? (Don't tell your mother I'm encouraging you). _

_ That's it really, owl me back when you get the chance._

_ Love you,_

_ Dad_

James stuffed the letter in his pocket and shook his head when Sirius looked as if he was about to ask what the letter was about. James grabbed his bag and pretended not to notice the concerned look Sirius and Remus shared as he exited the Great Hall and made his way to Divination early.

It was going to be a long day

* * *

James tried to push the dark thoughts from his mind all day, wishing that Quidditch Practice would start up early so he could loose himself in the motions of the game. High in the air, way above his problems, with the wind blowing through his hair and-

"Mr. Potter?" McGonagall's sharp voice brought him out of his thoughts. Her mouth was a thin line and her eyes were staring at him coldly and expectantly, completely without mercy. James recognized that look. She had just asked him a question, obviously knowing James hadn't been paying attention.

Frantically, James's eyes began darting around the room, looking for clues as to what they had been talking about. James started coughing to buy himself more time, and as an excuse to shift from his leaned back position to an upright one. Remus was sitting next to him, notes scrawled in his neat penmanship. On the board were some notes but James couldn't see what about as his glasses were at the tip of his nose. He looked back at McGonagall who looked tired of waiting. She turned to Lily.

"Ms. Evans?" She asked, giving James a quick glance. She hadn't cared if he would be able to give her the answer or not. McGonagall had been teaching long enough to know James hadn't been paying attention. She had only asked James to let him know that she knew.

Sighing, James held his head up with his right hand, leaning forward onto his desk and actually trying to pay attention. He looked at his watch and noticed there was no more than a minute left in the class. Sure enough, the bell rang within a couple moments of James looking at the time. McGonagall told the class the homework, having to speak more loudly than usual due to the noise of the class shoving their books into their bags and getting out of their seats.

"A foot and a half on the process of becoming Animagi and the dangers associated with it!" She called to her students as they filed out the door.

James followed his friends to the last class he wanted to go to: Potions; a double period in the dungeons with the Slytherins. Knowing that these people's parents are responsible for the missing people and what happened to he and his mother last May, and knowing that they agreed with-

Not paying attention to where he was going, James walked straight into Avery. Their eyes met and James realized that he was the same height as the normally taller Slytherin. Scanning the student over, James saw that the only way Avery had grown over the summer was sideways. He smirked.

"Watch it Potter," Avery pushed James backwards and the smirk fell from his face as Avery's change in size caught James off balance. Tripping back and not getting a chance to think his actions through, his wand was out and pointed directly at Avery's chest.

"Don't touch me," James growled. Avery, thinking James was bluffing, took his meaty right forefinger and tapped James on the shoulder.  
A second later the Slytherin flew backwards and his front teeth were growing at a ridiculous rate, surpassing his chin within a couple of moments. James stood, wand still outstretched, breathing heavily, looking down at Avery.

"James!" Professor Slughorn cried out, clearly surprised. The Potions Master scanned the situation and then went to Avery's side. "Go to Professor McGonagall's office, I'll take Mr. Avery to the Hospital Wing."

James stuffed his wand in his pocket and turned away from the scene, heading to McGonagall's office as he was told. It took him a good ten minutes and when he got there he wished it had taken longer. Taking a breath, he knocked sharply on his Head of House's door.

"Come in," McGonagall called. James pushed the door open.

"Potter?" She asked surprised. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

James walked up to her desk and sat in the seat in front of it. "Slughorn sent me to you, Professor."

McGonagall's face changed, her lip thinned out to the point it was barely visible, her nose flared ever so slightly and her eyes squinted at him, looking him over and staring into his soul in the way only some teachers can do. The Look.

The Look stood in place of the question, "What did you do?" It made you squirm in your seat until you told without having to be asked. James was familiar with it, having been on the receiving end too many times to count. And no matter how hard he tried, it would always get him.

"I hexed Avery," James muttered.

"Why?" His Head of House continued staring at him.

"He pushed me," James responded, realizing how childish it sounded as he said it.

"Why would he do that?"

"Well… I kinda, sorta… bumped into him. Not on purpose or anything but…" James let the sentence trail off.

Professor McGonagall sighed. The Look fell from her face and turned to one more of concern. "I know what this is about."

James looked up at her.

"James, you can't take out your anger at what happened out on everybody. And just because he is a Slytherin, because I know you wouldn't have hexed Sirius if he pushed you, doesn't mean you have a right to hex him."

"But his parents-" James started.

"What his parents are, what they do or believe, does not necessarily define Mr. Avery as a person. If you're judging him on suspicions like that, how are you any better?"

"Professor, are you saying that you don't think Avery agrees-" James tried to counter.

"Sirius doesn't." McGonagall cut him off.

"Sirius is different." James shot back.

"I don't want to Mr. Potter, but I'm giving you a week of detention-"

"A week!" James interrupted.

The Look reappeared and James was silent.

"A week of detention with Professor Slughorn." Professor McGonagall finished and James was dismissed. He stood up, his chair, pushed back a couple of inches when he stood, made a harsh squeak that made James cringe. He made his way towards the door.

"I won't inform your parents of this James, but you know that they wouldn't want this." McGonagall told him, not looking at him but down at the paper she was writing on. Her voice was warmer as she said this, and James knew that his Professor really did want him to feel better.

It only made James feel worse.

**A/N: I'm really sorry for the delay and for the shortness of the chapter. I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Please review and, I know haven't asked in a while, but prank ideas are always welcome and the creator will always get credit. See you soon.**


	7. Wizard Angst

7. Wizard Angst

James sat in his dorm on his bed, bouncing a red rubber ball off the floor and onto the wall before catching it and doing it again. _Thump, Smack, Catch_. _Thump, Smack, Catch_._ Thump, Smack, Catch_.

It wasn't late yet, the sun was still struggling to maintain its hold in the sky, refusing to yield to the rising moon and stars. It wouldn't last long, within the hour the night would chase the remaining light from the sky, leaving behind the pale moonlight and the twinkling of stars.

_Thump, Smack, Catch. Thump, Smack, Catch. Thump, Smack_- James misses the ball and hits the ground again, more of a _bump_ this time as it lost its power during its short journey. The dull bump against the floor becomes fainter and fainter until the ball rolls off towards the window, hitting the curtain and disturbing the doxy that had somehow managed to survive the summer without being discovered.

James sighed. He didn't want to stand up, didn't want to reach over to his nightstand so he could Summon the ball or conjure a new one. He just wanted to sit on the edge of his bed and watch the dying night give its last breath before it gave in.

_Merlin_ _I'm dramatic_. He thought to himself. He smiled for a second but then it fell just like the sun had-

_What the Hell is wrong with me?_ James shook himself. He figured now that he was back in school, away from home, away from the constant reminder of-. He had figured being at school would help him shake it off, help him become himself again, but if anything, with the exception of the brief moments, he was worse.

James lay back on his bed, swinging his feet up as the rest of his body went down. Putting his left foot under his right he pushed his shoe off, not even bothering to untie it. His now shoeless right foot pushed the remaining shoe off of his left foot. He pulled his legs towards his torso and pulled his socks off, throwing them on the ground next to his discarded shoes.

_Snap out of it!_ James yelled at himself. He was tired of feeling angry and upset. That wasn't James Potter. James Potter was the guy who told jokes and played pranks, who was always laughing and smiling. Wallowing in self pity he closed his eyes and started to pull the curtains of his four-poster closed.

The door to the dorm opened. Expecting Sirius, or Remus, or even Peter, James looked up. It was Frank.

Rolling away from his dorm-mate and pretending to be asleep, James heard the sounds of disrobing and then getting into clothes. He heard Frank go into the bathroom and brush his teeth and then come out.

"I know you're awake James," Frank told him nonchalantly. James didn't respond but stayed in his position.

Frank paused. "Look, I get it, you need time. Just remember there are people that care about you mate. I just walked past Sirius and them, they look lost without you. Take your time but bounce back. If I can you can."

James sat up and opened his mouth to talk to Frank who was already gone, the ajar dormitory door telling James where he had gone.

James sighed and shook himself. Literally. He shook his head and ran his hands through his hair and shook his hands after he had succeeded in making himself look even more disheveled. He stood and shook his arms and went into the bathroom, shaking his legs out of his pants and pulling his shirt over his head. He got into the shower and put the water as hot as it would go, causing the bathroom to steam up instantly as he stepped into the sauna like shower and closed the curtain.

He took a shower, not with any soap or anything as he had already showered in the morning, letting the water flow from his head down to the rest of his body, with the heat almost burning him and the steam making it so he could barely see his hand in front of him. He stayed in the shower for a good fifteen minutes, relishing in the steamy environment and the torrent of water and then, regrettably, he turned the water off, leaving the showerhead dripping, pushed the curtain open and stepped out onto the bathroom rug, grabbing his towel and drying his head, then his arms and torso, then his legs. With the hand that wasn't holding the towel he wiped the condensation from the mirror and looked at his reflection.

James Potter wasn't going too sit around and mope for the rest of his life. James Potter wasn't going to shun himself from society. James Potter wasn't going to be beaten by something that had happened almost four months ago. He wasn't going to forget it, he was going to remember it, and _live_. He survived, and so did his mother, no matter how horrible or traumatizing an experience, he had survived; things could've worked out a hell of a lot worse. And, if for no reason other than that (and there were tons more reasons) he was going to fight back, show the world who James Potter was.

He finished drying off and got dressed, just in a spare t shirt and a pair of jeans. He ran his hand through his hair and left the dorm, leaving the red rubber ball ignored on the ground, wrapped up in the bottom of the curtains.

James flew down the boys' dormitory stairs, taking two at a time. He almost tripped but managed to catch himself on a wall, thankful that he had tripped at a part where the stairwell was curved. He entered the common room and scanned the mass of red and gold for his friends, finding them just where he expected them to be. He started making his way over to them, spotting Frank as he did so and smiling at him. Frank smiled back, giving James a nod before returning to his conversation with Alice.

"Hola mis amigos," James greeted his friends in a horrible accent, not making the 'H' silent and mis-saying 'amigos'.

Peter looked up at James surprised, Sirius smiled at him and moved over a little to give him a place to sit, and Remus put his book down and responded, "Hola James, ¿Cómo estás?"

"Bless you," James replied with a smile, gladly taking the seat next to Sirius. "What were you ladies gossiping about?"

Remus shrugged. "Nothing in particular, do you have something in mind?"

James smirked. "You know me so well Moony," Remus rolled his eyes at the name. "How's about a prank? I've got some brilliant ideas,"

He wasn't okay, not yet, but he certainly wasn't going to stop living just because he wasn't feeling great. Plus, pranks made great therapy.

**A/N: What's this? Another chapter? Yes, yes it is. It is short, I know, but I like it, and I needed a segue from depressed James. It would've been lazy writing to have him go through a traumatic experience and not have any side effect. I'll have another chapter up soon and I would really appreciate the reviews. Gracias.**


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